Advertising

Latest Articles in Travel

Advertising

In the final City Modern panel, a talented group of architects and designers met at the Flexform showroom in Manhattan to discuss retail design. The panelists spoke on their efforts to translate company branding into architecture and design, the challenge of adapting to diverse markets, and what contributes to a successful space.

In the wake of the London Olympics, Nike teamed up with global curator Neville Wakefield and six other designers to dream up a structure that celebrates its latest product release, the Flyknit running shoe. Taking inspiration from the new product’s themes—it's lightweight, formfitting, sustainability-minded, and performance-oriented—these design leaders, who hail from engineering, education, art, and architectural backgrounds, dreamed up fantastical installations. Each designer was assigned a city to host the installation and they worked closely with the people in their respective locales, leading conversations and workshops to ensure that the sturcture would be successful. All of the designs boast a unique sensory experience, pushing the bounds of shape, color, size, and safety, and prove to be as innovative as the shoe that was the jumping off point. Structures are currently on display in New York, London, Rio, and Shanghai, with highly anticipated locations in Milan and Tokyo opening this October.

Inspired by our Made in the USA product roundup in our October 2012 issue, which featured everything from eco-friendly wallpaper to LED lamps made from wood scraps, we bring you the latest from Misewell, a Milwaukee-based company that's a recent Dwell favorite. We profiled Vincent and Paul Georgeson, the two brothers behind the company, in our 2010 Young Guns roundup, and have continued to track their progress and new releases ever since. As the brothers put it, their main goal is to create furniture that will last for decades, both physically and aesthetically. “We’re not trying to follow any trends or do anything ostentatious,” says Paul. “We want our pieces to look great in 30 years rather than turning into hideous eyesores. We want our customers to pass this stuff on to their grandkids.” Here, a look at some of their latest products, introduced at this year's International Contemporary Furniture Fair and now available online, as well as some older favorites.

From the high-drama NoMad in New York City to a revived mid-century gem in Desert Hot Springs, California, we've pulled together a selection of our favorite American hotels featuring modern architecture and inventive design. Even if you can't get away for one last weekend before the flurry of fall descends in full, take a moment to daydream with our slideshow.

Heath Ceramics recently opened a factory and retail location in San Francisco and partnered with Blue Bottle Coffee to open a cafe inside of the 60,000-square-foot former industrial laundry. Thanks to the keen design eye of Commune—who helped with the look and feel of the interiors—and structural wizardry of Charles Hemminger of hemmingerarchitects—who helped refine the architecture—Heath has a new home at 18th Street and Alabama befitting its wares.
"We needed more space," says Heath co-owner Cathy Bailey, who had a studio in the neighborhood years ago. "The original building in Sausalito was built in 1959 with the agenda to be a dinnerware factory. Over the years, it's grown and we have no more space. The difference between the new Heath and the old Heath is that we do everything ourselves—sell directly, manufacture, and design in-house. We didn't want to build way out in the valley, away from everyone; we wanted to stay close to customers, in a vibrant environment."

Specializing in products for the home, the textile-driven Portland, Oregon, webshop Cloth and Goods puts a spotlight on old-world fabrics and weaving techniques. Founder Melissa Newirth sources vintage and new materials from Japan, Africa, South Korea, and Lithuania, among other countries, and crafts them into soft goods that let the patterns, textures, and weaves of their respective textiles shine through. We sent a few queries to Newirth about her shop, which opened in the spring of 2012.

It's hard to narrow down the highlights of a recent trip Dwell took to Belgium—a whirlwind week covering Antwerp, Ghent, and Brussels, spent meeting architects and designers, exploring neighborhoods, and scouting design shops and houses. Here are some of our favorite discoveries in Antwerp, a city that melds the medieval, Gothic, modernist, and breathtakingly contemporary with aplomb. Stay tuned for the rest of the best, including what we saw in Ghent and Brussels, posting on dwell.com later this week.

The more you travel, the more you notice a bag that tips over when you lug it onto the curb, won't fit in an overhead bin, adds unneccessary weight, and slowly but surely contributes to jetset-induced fatigue. Now consider this addition to the luggage department: the soft-sided Contempo roller bag collection from Biaggi.